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During a special press conference Tadic confirmed that Hadzic was arrested in the Fruska Gora hills, Serbia at 0824 local time (GMT+2) on Wednesday, July 20.
“We have done this for the citizens of Serbia and victims from other nations and due to a change in the system of values and the establishment of credibility… No pressure related to carrying out this arrest had any effective impact. They were totally insignificant. We were governed by moral reasons and duties,” Tadic said, adding that a dark chapter of history had been closed with this arrest.
Tadic mentioned that Hadzic’s arrest was “not any sort of trade-off”, adding that Serbia had taken the obligation and fulfilled it.
“Radovan Karadzic, Ratko Mladic and now also Goran Hadzic have been arrested after the establishment of the National Council for National Security. I congratulate those who conducted the arrest,” Tadic said, denying speculation that Serbia had known where Hadzic was.
Goran Hadzic, former President of the Serbian Krajina Republic, was the last remaining ICTY fugitive who has evaded justice for years. The Hague Tribunal charges him with crimes against humanity and the violation of the laws and customs of war in the Republic of Croatia.
The indictment alleges that Hadzic participated in a joint criminal enterprise, led by Slobodan Milosevic, from June 1991 to December 1993. It further alleges that the enterprise aimed at forcibly and permanently removing the non-Serb population from nearly one third of the Croatian territory, as well as persecuting and killing Croats and other non-Serbs in the Vukovar, Dalj, Erdut, Lovas and Klisa areas.
Prior to Hadzic’s arrest, in May this year Serbia arrested Ratko Mladic, who is charged with genocide and crimes against humanity in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was extradited to The Hague Tribunal.
E.M.
